Yeah did look a bit like a pizza oven ... that is the Col de Porte that you can just make out where the buildings are below.Friday was quiet one,45ks or something with only some shorter efforts. Saturday was family stuff.Sunday I headed back to the mountains for my first XC race in maybe 10 years ... first mtb race at all in over 2 years!. Like I said on strava there is a reason I don't do these often!.Lined up with all the whippets on super light carbon mtbs... me having not being paying attention to my diet I have crept back up to 95... and my bike weighs 13kgs or so . Oh well it is just for fun right!. About 50-60 lined up, about 40 doing the full 4 laps for 40kms with 250 meters climbing per lap. Bloody hell it was tough... my first lap was ok at 27:51 but then dropped to 29:45 / 30:13 / 31:03 . My power just deserted me on the climbs... having only done one ride on my mtb in the last 6 months I was not used to the long pinch climbs and different position. My glutes suffered big time and even though they kept working they just felt dead... my back held up but was getting really tired as well. Specificity is the key ... going to be interesting next Sat at first CX race for the season... I still haven't built the bike up yet!. Yet again I think I just need to readjust my goals .BTW finished 19th overall and 9th in my catergorie... didn't get lapped by the nationzl chzmp who won it... phew!.

i just got my first race license!!! after having a couple quiter months on the bike over the winter, i have ramped it up over the last couple of months.i will give my first race a go on the weekend and see how i go. im alittle nervous but hope it will disappear once i hit the start line. ill keep you posted!

ni78ck wrote:i just got my first race license!!! after having a couple quiter months on the bike over the winter, i have ramped it up over the last couple of months.i will give my first race a go on the weekend and see how i go. im alittle nervous but hope it will disappear once i hit the start line. ill keep you posted!

ni78ck wrote:i just got my first race license!!! after having a couple quiter months on the bike over the winter, i have ramped it up over the last couple of months.i will give my first race a go on the weekend and see how i go. im alittle nervous but hope it will disappear once i hit the start line. ill keep you posted!

Geez... better get my a into g to keep up with you guys.SO far my training today has consisted of swapping out pedals,tyres and wheels on the CX bike, looking out the door at the solid 45kmph winds with gusts up to 90 with ice blowing around and questioning my sanity... ie I would rather ride in that than get on the home trainer . Have to build up the winter bike soon!.

Diverted from my normal 'commute' and did two laps up Black Mountain (in Canberra. 220M in 2.7Km). TSS of 120 for the morning, but that 14% section at the bottom makes my back ache. I've got to learn to shift forwards on the saddle ala TT position, it makes it so much less painful. Given I was on the 'cross bike with about 5Kg of backpack, 13:38 (363W) wasn't too bad a time for the first run, but 15:30 for the second (319W) was very lame.

Did the Beechmont climb today. One long grind. Not steep, but long. Roadworks at the top meant a ton of trucks, so not that much fun. The descent was kinda fun though.1 hr on the trainer yesterday on the TT bike. I have come to the conclusion that an hour on the trainer is worth....................an hour of training. It just drags.

Winston, I parked at the velodrome at Nerang, and rode up from there. I had a few hours to kill. There is a road works happening just west of the Laurel tree Cafe, and there was a stream of trucks carting soil back to the Beechmont Rd turn-off. It might be OK on the weekend, but yesterday it was very busy, and I bailed on the ride at the top of the hill cos it was getting to me.

More hill repeats, spent too much time out of the saddle so my dodgy right knee is feeling fragile now, walking up stair is a bit iffy again.

It's weird how badly I suck at climbing - I just can't maintain the same power I can on the flat, even when I can keep the cadence up. And it makes my back hurt... I'd sit further forwards on the saddle to get the weight forwards, but that makes the effective saddle height too low. It's stupid - I climb best on my TT bike!

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